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Jonny Burt’s Illustrations Explore The Dehumanising Effects Of Living In Contemporary Society

Jonny Burt is a young English illustrator whose main concern lies in highlighting the dehumanising effects of living in contemporary society. His subject matter is often children who he rightly believes are the innocent victims of the neverending onslaught of capitalist culture and the self evident truth that underpins it; that only through consumption and fame can we achieve eternal happiness.

Most of Burt’s work is highly graphic and rendered in pastel and acrylic a technique and aesthetic borne out of his love of menswear fashion illustration and design. He recently signed with Vandal Factory and Debut Contemporary and is currently contributing artworks to contemporary menswear labels, Sons of Heroes, and was recently commissioned by the BBC to design the poster for new film ‘Rose, Mary & Time’.

Here’s what he has to say about his work:

My art is a passionate reaction to the dehumanising effects of 21st century life, offering a satirical examination of fractured identity in a culture where the relentless pursuit for fame and material pleasures becomes aligned with an ominous sense of looming mortality.

The subjects in my work often feature young children, not only to suggest who the true victims are, but also to reveal our own regressive and dependent condition in a mediatised and commodified culture.

My often cynical artistic response to the notion of fame is compounded by my experiences as an actor in London. I have met individuals who are so painfully desperate and deluded that fame has become their sole quest. In an age dominated by reality shows, it seems that the line is blurring rapidly between fame and infamy: Just how far will people go to be famous in the next ten years? Where are the limits to the exploitation of human beings?